Upside Down in IndyMac Mortgage. What Should I Do? – Paul

Upside down value on a house is not news these day – mine went from 680,000 to about 400K. Loan is 500K at 6.9%. Wrote to IndyMac for reduced interest rate and they ignored me -tried several times – then withheld one months payment and all hell broke loose – yes they responded but not in a positive manner – they are not willing to renegotiate – now the pymt went from 3200 to 4000 since they added the property tax. My credit score has dropped because of this and since the house is upside down, can’t refi. They give a lot of BS about the Obama making housing afordable but that is as meaningless as he is – does not amount to anything as far as bank efforts to make a reasonable adjustment in the interest rate to lower the payment and get back on a positive tract.

So what do you suggest I do relative to IndyMac – forget the effort to renegotiate the loan ? Hold back more payments until they pay attention, or walk away or what? I like my house but they are unreasonable.

Paul”

The Answer

Dear Paul,

Indy Mac is a difficult lender to work with when trying to modify a loan. They nit-pick documents worse than just about any lender out there. If you sign a quarter-inch away from where you’re supposed to or you forget to check a box, your modification review will go nowhere and you can never count on them to let you know. Loan modification is possible with Indy Mac, but they sure don’t make it easy. Not in my experience anyway.

Your income will be a huge factor for you in determining whether or not to continue trying to get a modification. If you know for a fact that you should qualify, than it may be worth continuing with that route. Just be prepared to stay on top of Indy Mac and get them every last document they ask for. Also be prepared to call at least once or twice a week until it is approved.

As for the property tax increase. If that is because they just recently added an escrow to your loan because you paid the taxes on your own, than there won’t be much you can do to reduce that. It is what it is. If they added the $800/mo to your payment to account for unpaid past taxes, than you may be able to speak with the escrow department and get that worked into a longer plan. When a negative escrow (unpaid taxes) is added to a loan the lender will typically stretch it out to a 12 month plan automatically, even when they have the ability to stretch it out over 60 months. Sometimes it’s just as easy as asking the lender to put you on a 60 month plan for the back taxes, and they do it.

As for holding back payments. If you plan to keep the house and you’re already behind, there is no reason whatsoever to miss any more payments. You don’t gain any leverage by falling further behind and it can only dig you into a deeper hole if all other options fail. Many lenders will tell you that you don’t need to be delinquent in order to modify a loan. I’ve never found this to be the case. Every modification attempt that I have ever seen when someone remains current, has failed. But there’s no difference in whether you’re one month behind or six, so keep the delinquency as low as possible if losing the home is not an option.

In the end if all else fails or you’ve had enough, than let the house go. You’re $100k underwater at this point and it’s anybody’s guess when the value will ever get back to a break even for you. It could only be 3-5 years, but it’s more likely to take a lot longer than that. If you don’t feel confident in your ability to float this loan the entire time you’re waiting on the real estate values to come back, than you should speak with a local real estate broker about short sale right away. A short sale can potentially get you out of that home by selling it at market value, with Indy Mac forgiving most, if not all of the deficiency.

If you still have questions or would like to keep us posted on your progress please post them in the comment section below this post. I am subscribed to this post and will do my best to respond promptly. Good Luck.

Best Regards,

Andy is a licensed real estate broker in Massachusetts and is the founder of Northeast Properties in Norton, Massachusetts. His brokerage is designed to help homeowners in today’s difficult real estate market, specializing in short sales. Andy speaks with Massachusetts homeowners every day, helping them to address their questions or issues with short sale or loan modification. He enjoys helping consumers arrive at the correct solution to their problem, and believes that the only way to correctly do that is by presenting them with all of their options in an un-biased manner.

If you have a mortgage, short sale, real estate, or loan modification question you’d like to ask just use the online form. I’m happy to help you totally for free.

well my parents just went through what you went through my parents was trying to get modification and they ask them to give them statements from the bank three months worth award letter and everything they needed to complete the modification process. they asked for the same documentation at lease 10 times just to confuse my parents ….anyways, I have done research on borrowers rights and research on how much they can increase our monthly mortgage and the regulation of percentage of how much they can increase you need to do your own research i found alot of knowledgeable questions and answer of what people can do and what they can not do …look up regulation on how high a lender can increase your monthly mortgage. from doing my research I just cam acrosse you need to read on CIVIL RELIEF ACT 9SCRA)..also look up FINANCIAL INSTITUTION you will be very surprise when you do read up on it . ALSO READ UP ON THE MAXIMUM INTEREST RATE PERMITTED UNDER RCW 19.52.0201

More Available Help

Recent Comments

Read More Comments

The Amazing How to Get Out of Debt Calculator

In a matter of minutes this one single online calculator will demonstrate your different debt relief options available to get out of debt. As far as I know this is the first calculator like this. It's free to use. [Click Here]

Legal Friends and Protectors

A number of consumer attorneys stand behind the site as a friend and legal protector of the work we do here. [Click Here]

Find Me on Facebook

About Me

I'll help you get out of debt totally for free. All you have to do is tell me your situation, ask me your question and I'll help you find an honest and truthful solution to resolve your debt and credit situation.

Get My FREE Get Out of Debt Guy Newsletter

It is the smart thing to do.

I want to keep you posted each weekday with just one email about the latest get out of debt news, scam alerts and information to beat back debt.

You can unsubscribe at any time with just one click.

After you subscribe, check your email to confirm your subscription. If the confirmation email does not appear in your inbox in a few minutes, check your spam folder for it. Sometimes it likes to annoyingly hide there.

Get My FREE Get Out of Debt Guy Newsletter

It is the smart thing to do.

I want to keep you posted each weekday with just one email about the latest get out of debt news, scam alerts and information to beat back debt.

You can unsubscribe at any time with just one click.

After you subscribe, check your email to confirm your subscription. If the confirmation email does not appear in your inbox in a few minutes, check your spam folder for it. Sometimes it likes to annoyingly hide there.